December 23, 2012

Halftime: Panthers 14, Raiders 3

Quarterback Cam Newton accounted for a
pair of touchdowns to lead the Panthers to a 14-3 halftime lead over
Oakland on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

Newton scrambled for a 3-yard touchdown
run with 17 seconds left in the half after rookie linebacker Luke
Kuechly intercepted Raiders quarterback Matt Leinart with 1:21
remaining.

Leinart was playing in place of
starting quarterback Carson Palmer, who left with an injury to the
ribs after a hard hit by defensive end Greg Hardy – one of four
personal foul penalties called on the teams for either roughing the
passer or hitting the head of a defenseless receiver.

The Panthers failed to score on their
opening possession after scoring touchdowns on their first drive in
their four previous games. On the second play of the game, DeAngelo
Williams went around left end for an apparent 76-yard touchdown run.

But wideout Steve Smith was called for
holding, negating the score.

Smith made up for it on the next drive
with catches on consecutive plays – a 16-yarder over the middle and
a 23-yard touchdown along the right sideline that put the Panthers up
7-0 with 3:12 left in the first quarter.

Sebastian Janikowski's 21-yard field
goal cut the Panthers' lead to 7-3 with 6:25 remaining in the first
half.

Newton completed 13 of 19 passes for
142 yards and extended to his team-record streak of passes without an
interception to 171.

Posted by Observer Sports on December 23, 2012 at 02:27 PM | Permalink